APMA News - February 2013 - (Page 24)

S Social Media 101: Strategies for Today’s Podiatrist ocial media has become an important part of modern life, influencing cultural trends, lifestyles, and the ways we communicate with each other at almost every level. While many professionals are currently taking advantage of social media for promoting businesses and practices, others have yet to explore the numerous and ever-changing social media outlets that are available on our computer screens and mobile devices every day. From Facebook to Twitter to Pinterest, social media has become a major player in our ability to communicate with friends, family, colleagues, and patients. APMA has been engaged with social media for several years now with much success, but we continue to learn new and better ways to use these tools. We want to share our lessons learned and explore options for how social media may work best for you and your practice. APMA uses a number of social media tools to promote the profession. Here are brief descriptions of some of the most popular: lowers share these messages with their connections. Tweets are short, to the point, and easy to share; many Twitter users post to their accounts several times a day. @ APMATweets, APMA’s official Twitter “handle,” or account name, has more than 28,000 followers. APMA uses Twitter to share quick but important facts about podiatry, as well as circulate news stories and updates about upcoming APMA events and campaigns. • LinkedIn is a professional networking service that allows users to connect with other professionals in their industry, exchanging professional knowledge and opportunities with others broadly. LinkedIn also has a growing “Jobs” feature that allows people and organizations to advertise open positions as well as permit users to apply directly through the website. Currently, APMA has a LinkedIn group page with more than 2,000 members, creating a space where members, students, medical assistants, and others interact and communicate on various health topics through discussions and forums. @APMATweets 41% of adults believe that their overall health would be better if they did not have foot pain. #todayspodiatrist • Facebook is a social networking site founded in 2004 which now has more than 1 billion users around the globe. Users can create a personal page, allowing them to interact with other Facebook users by sharing photos, messages, and web links of common interest. APMA has a “group page” with more than 3,000 “likes” and currently uses Facebook to post photos and information about association events and news updates. We also use it to highlight APMA members making strides in the profession and students who are working toward podiatric medical degrees. • Google+ is a newer social networking site created by Google, originally called Google Circles. It allows users to create categories for their contacts based on relationships—for example, colleagues, family, friends, alumni, etc. Google+ currently allows users to share videos, photos, updates, web links, and other information targeted to people in their specific circles. APMA uses Google+ to interact with members and other organizations by posting photos and news updates, similarly to the ways we use Facebook. • Twitter is a social networking service that allows users to send and read messages, called “tweets,” of up to 140 characters. These messages can be seen by anyone “following” that user and can be “retweeted”—meaning fol- • YouTube is a video-sharing website that allows users to upload, view, and share videos. Many of the videos found on YouTube are user-generated, while others are clips from movies, television, or music videos. APMA takes 24 APMA News February 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - February 2013

APMA News - February 2013
President’s Message
Table of Contents
Keeping Boots on the Ground: Podiatric Physicians in the Military
Catch Comedian Tom Cotter at The National Opening Session
Annual Meeting Sponsors
State Advocacy in Focus: Sowing Grassroots Advocacy
APMA Staff Celebrates 100th Anniversary with Time Capsule
Social Media 101: Strategies for Today’s Podiatrist
2012 Podiatric Practice Survey: Year of Graduation from Podiatric Medical College by Practice Arrangement Type
Reimbursement
Federal Advocacy Forum
APMAPAC Chair Report
IT Consultant
Website Wisdom
Small Business 101
Seeking Award Nominations
CPME Update
Resolutions Deadlines
Call for Abstracts
In Short
Worthy of Note
Call for Abstracts
List of Affi liated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
New Members
Death Notices
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Classifi ed Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions
Your APMA
2013 Annual Scientific Meeting Preliminary Program

APMA News - February 2013